''Cannonball'' is a British

game show A game show is a genre of broadcast viewing entertainment (radio, television, internet, stage or other) where contestants compete for a reward. These programs can either be participatory or demonstrative and are typically directed by a host, ...

, hosted by Andrew "Freddie" Flintoff with

Frankie Bridge Francesca Bridge ( Sandford, born 14 January 1989) is an English singer, formerly a member of S Club Juniors and a member of girl group The Saturdays. She is signed to Fascination and Polydor labels. Bridge began her career when she auditioned ...

Radzi Chinyanganya Munyaradzi Thomas Kingsley "Radzi" Chinyanganya (born 12 September 1986) is a British presenter and broadcaster. He co-presented the BBC children's TV programme ''Blue Peter'' from 2013 until 2019, and the ITV game show ''Cannonball'' in 2017 ...

, Ryan Hand and

Maya Jama Maya Indea Jama (, ; born 14 August 1994) is an English television, radio presenter, and DJ. She co-presented BBC One's '' Peter Crouch: Save Our Summer'' alongside Peter Crouch and Alex Horne and is presenter of the BBC Three competition '' ...

as poolside reporters, which first aired on 2 September 2017 on

ITV ITV or iTV may refer to: ITV *Independent Television (ITV), a British television network, consisting of: ** ITV (TV network), a free-to-air national commercial television network covering the United Kingdom, the Isle of Man, and the Channel Islan ...

. The show features 24 contestants of all ages taking on four games in a bid to win gold, silver and bronze medals. The top three contestants with the most medals go through to the final to play for the ''Cannonball Cup''. Flintoff is the main presenter and narrator, whilst Bridge, Chinyanganya, Hand and Jama are down by the games speaking to the contestants.

Format

The format for the show is a franchise that originated in the Netherlands by

Talpa Talpa may refer to: Places * Talpa, Iran, a village in Khuzestan Province, Iran * Talpa, Teleorman, a commune in Teleorman County, Romania * Talpa, a village in Cândeşti Commune, Botoşani County, Romania * Talpa, a village in Bârgăuani Com ...

, which has also been produced in Australia. The British version started filming in

Valletta Valletta (, mt, il-Belt Valletta, ) is an administrative unit and capital of Malta. Located on the main island, between Marsamxett Harbour to the west and the Grand Harbour to the east, its population within administrative limits in 2014 wa ...

Malta Malta ( , , ), officially the Republic of Malta ( mt, Repubblika ta' Malta ), is an island country in the Mediterranean Sea. It consists of an archipelago, between Italy and Libya, and is often considered a part of Southern Europe. It lies ...

from late April 2017.

Qualifying rounds

*Blob: One or two people weighing two and a half times the person's body weight jumps from a tower onto an inflatable blob. The aim is to get as high as possible. *Knockout: Contestants roll down a ramp wearing an inflatable ball suit, and they must knock over as many bowling pins as they can. *Skimmer: Two contestants at a time go down a 14-meter slide on body boards. The aim is to get the finish line the quickest. *Jump: Two contestants at a time go down a 14-meter ramp on body boards. The aim is to achieve the greatest distance in the air.

The Final: Swing to Win

The final is split into three rounds: *Round 1: Swing from a 9-meter high podium into a target made up of 150,000 table tennis balls coloured by lights. There are five colours, with each colour getting smaller but representing more points. Purple is worth 1 point, white is worth 2, green is worth 3, blue is worth 4 and yellow is worth 5 points. *Round 2: It's the same as before, but this time the bullseye (yellow) is moving across the target. *Round 3: It's the same as before, but this time all the coloured circles move around and the yellow bullseye is worth 10 points. The winner of the show an still cannonball champion is Joel"as strong as a lion from ZION" Jackson from Bristol

Broadcast history

Series

Specials

U.S. version

An American version of ''Cannonball'', simulcast on the

USA Network USA Network (simply USA) is an American basic cable television channel owned by the NBCUniversal Television and Streaming division of Comcast's NBCUniversal through NBCUniversal Cable Entertainment. It was originally launched in 1977 as Madison ...

and

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American English-language commercial broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a division of Comcast, its headquarters are l ...

, premiered on June 29, 2020. It is hosted by

WWE World Wrestling Entertainment, Inc., d/b/a as WWE, is an American professional wrestling promotion. A global integrated media and entertainment company, WWE has also branched out into other fields, including film, American football, and vari ...

wrestler

The Miz Michael Gregory Mizanin (born October 8, 1980) is an American professional wrestler, actor, and television personality. He is currently signed to WWE, where he performs on the Raw brand under the ring name The Miz. Mizanin first gained fa ...

and former ''Entertainment Tonight'' correspondent Rocsi Diaz, with comedian Simon Gibson as the sideline reporter.

Reception

Sam Wollaston for ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...

'' gave it a positive review saying "ITV's new water-park show may lack the sophistication of BBC's ''

Total Wipeout ''Total Wipeout'' is a British game show, hosted by Richard Hammond and Amanda Byram, which first aired on the BBC on 3 January 2009. In each episode, contestants competed in a series of challenges in an attempt to win £10,000. These challen ...

'' – but when it comes to stripping people of their dignity, it wins hands down."

References

External links

* *{{UKGameshow, Cannonball 2010s British game shows 2017 British television series debuts 2017 British television series endings English-language television shows ITV game shows Television series by ITV Studios Cannonball (game show)